NJPW Best of the Super Juniors XXIV: Day 6

BLOCK A MATCH: Marty Scurll vs. TAKA Michinoku - 4/10

Not much to say because they really didn't do much.

BLOCK A MATCH: Will Ospreay vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger - 6.25/10

Liger lost, which all but eliminates him from what he had announced would be his final Best of the Super Juniors Tournament- a tournament he has been virtually synonymous with- just half-way in, showing that nothing has been learned from last year's similar treatment of Hiroyoshi Tenzan in the G1. It's more evidence that Gedo really doesn't know how to tell a story on anything above the most basic level of "guy wins lots of matches." He has shown himself to be pretty good at making stars by protecting guys, but in terms of actually telling stories with them, he is at a level of only the most basic competence (hence the lack of real stories in the G1. The story every year is just "it's a clusterf*ck at the top"). He's not going to have these terrible inconsistencies like you'd see out of Vince Russo or Delirious, but, like the proverbial blind squirrels that they are, those guys do also occasionally find nuts. Gedo doesn't even go looking. He has just gotten lucky that a number of very nutritious nuts have fallen into his lap and he has done a good job of preserving his store by rationing them out.

BLOCK A MATCH: Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taichi (w/TAKA Michinoku) - 7/10

This is a great match that would have been even better if they had cut out the first chunk of it, which consisted of bland heel stuff from Taichi, some dumb comedy with pants, and the Taichi wailing on Hiromu with a chair right in front of the referee without being disqualified. The rest of it was a great story about guys working over each other's heads, but that first part really brought it down.

BLOCK A MATCH: Dragon Lee vs. Ricochet - 7.75/10

They did some cool stuff but at this point in the tournament it feels like I've seen most of it already. It's going to take a story being told in the ring to really draw me in.

Final Thoughts
This was a fine show, but nothing blow-away either. You should probably check out the main event if you have the time, but there really isn't anything you need to go out of your way to see.